Expiration Date
by GriffinRider16
Summary: Set after STWAOES. The flock never reunited. Now, three years later, Max finds out that she only has one week left to live. The one thing she wants most is to reunite the flock. Can the flock save her before it's too late? DISCLAIMER:don't own the charac
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Expiration Date

"Max!" Nudge called from outside the bathroom door of our house. "Max, hurry up!"

"I'll be our in a sec, Nudge," I called back, pulling a brush through my long blond hair. "Just hold on!"

I was just pulling my hair back into a ponytail when I saw it in the mirror. On the back of my neck were three small numbers. Squinting, I turned my neck so that I would be able to see better. I paled when I realized what it was. My expiration date. I squinted trying to read the small numbers.

_Oh crap!_ I thought, reading the numbers. That date tattooed on my neck read one week from now.

Stunned I sat on the toilet. One week. That was all the time that I had left. Groaning, I put my head in my hands. What was I going to do? How could I tell Nudge and Angel what had happened? Would I die before seeing my brothers again? This was all too much too soon.

Outside the door, I could hear Nudge murmuring to Angel. Any second now, Angel would start reading my mind. I quickly threw up my mental shields.

_**Max? **_I winced as Angel's voice floated through my mind.

_What, sweetie?_ I replied.

_**Nudge wants to know if something's wrong. Is there?**_

_No. _

_**Then why were you thinking of the guys? **_she asked.

Damn Angel and her mind reading abilities. _I was just wondering where they were._ Suddenly, an idea popped into my head._ What would you and Nudge think about going to go see them?_

The loud squeal from outside answered that question. With one more look in the mirror, I opened the door and found Nudge and Angel jumping happily up and down.

"Ohmigod!" Nudge was screaming. "This is going to be soooo cool! I can't wait to see them! I wonder if they've changed at all. Well, of course they've changed. We haven't seen them it four years. How are we going to find them?"

I gave a small smile and walked down the hall to our living room which held a T.V., two couches and… a computer. "I was thinking of checking out Fang's Blog. Seeing if he still keeps it up and if it gives us any idea about where they might be." I pushed the power button and the computer hummed to life.

"Nudge?"

Grinning, Nudge closed her eyes and pressed her hand to the computer screen. A moment later, Fang's Blog popped up on the screen. I scrolled down to find the most recent entry. I quickly scanned the paragraphs.

"New York," I announced before shutting the computer off. I turned to smile at the two jumping kids beside me. "We're going to New York."

It took us two days in New York to track down the boy's house. Now we were standing outside of their front door, hopefully. They lived in a large white house with black shutters, courtesy of Fang I'm sure.

"Are you ready?" I asked the girls, who nodded eagerly. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. I winced as I realized that it sounded more like pounding.

Me and the girls waited nervously outside for what seemed like hours. I was just raising my fist to knock again when the door opened.

A tall, blond guy was standing at the door looking out. Well, not looking out because his eyes were completely sightless. He was blind.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Hey Iggy," I said, trying to sound casual. "How's it been?"

Iggy frowned. "How did you know-" He reached out and took my hand, feeling my fingers. That's one of his skills. He can identify a person by feeling their fingerprints. When he found mine, he paled. "M-max?! Is it really you?"

"No, it's the Easter Bunny," I retorted, giving him a hug. "Yes, it's me. And Angel and Nudge too."

Iggy grinned and hugged me back. Then he reached out to hug Nudge and Angel who ran into his arms. We were all grinning like maniacs and for one moment, I forgot that I had five days left to live.

"I can't believe you guys are here!" Iggy said. "What will Gazzy and Fang say?"

"Where are they?" I asked.

"They went out to get some groceries," Iggy replied, leading us into the house. It was HUGE! Way bigger then out house. "They should be back any minute now. I can't wait to see their faces."

"Um, Ig? I hate to tell you this, but you're blind. You won't be seeing their faces."

Iggy scowled and hit me playfully on the arm as he led us into the living room. "It's a figure of speech." I laughed and flopped down onto the large couch. Damn, it was good to see him again.

As soon as I sat, we heard the front door open. Suddenly, I felt very nervous. What would they say when the saw me? What would _Fang_ say? I glanced at my sisters and was relieved to see that they too were looking a bit nervous.

"Iggy?" a deep voice called out. "Where are you, man?"

"In the living room," Iggy called back.

We heard footsteps and a moment later, two guys entered the room.

Oh my gosh, Gazzy had grown! He was no longer the mischievous little kid. Now he looked, well older, and some how more mature. And Fang. As much as I hated to admit it, he had grown better looking then the last time I had seen him. His black hair was still too long. When they saw us, they froze.

"Um, sorry Ig," Fang said, looking at us. "We didn't know you had friends over."

"That's okay," Iggy replied, standing. "These are my friends Max, Angel, and Nudge."

"Nice to-" Fang said before cutting himself off. He squinted at the three of us and then looked at Iggy then back at us. By now we were all standing and watching each other.

Gazzy was the one to break the uncomfortable silence. Laughing, he dropped the bags that he had been carrying and ran over to hug me. Smiling, I squeezed him hard. Nudge and Angel joined in the little hug-fest and soon, we were all saying how much we had missed each other. Everyone, that is, except for Fang.

I looked up to see him watching me. Our eyes locked and through that special way we had I could tell what he was thinking. We'll talk later.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Talking With Fang

Chapter 2: Talking With Fang

Later that night, after we had put all the kids to bed, I was in "my room" getting ready to sleep when Fang knocked lightly on my door. I sighed and went to let him in. It was time to

"What's with the reunion?" Fang asked as he sat on the bed. "And don't say that it's because you missed us so much."

Knowing that there was no way that I could dance around the problem, I said, "My expiration date showed up."

Fang's olive skin paled. "W-what?"

"My expiration date," I repeated. "It showed up two days ago."

Fang stood. "Max, this isn't funny."

I snorted. "Why would I joke about something like this?"

"Max, stop."

Out of ideas, I pulled my hair away from my neck and turned my back to him. I heard his soft gasp as he read the numbers. He raised his hand and gently traced the numbers.

"Max, the date-" He turned me so that he was looking in my eyes. "The date's five days from now."

"I know," I whispered as I avoided looking at him. He forced my chin up so that I was looking into his dark eyes. I was surprised to see that they were filled with pain. Fang never showed emotions.

I waited for him to speak and, to my surprise, he pulled me into a hug. This was too much. To my great embarrassment, I started sobbing against his chest. He didn't say anything, just stroked my hair. I seemed to cry for hours until I ran out of tears.

I pushed away from him and wiped my eyes. "Sorry," I mumbled before turning away. Fang grabbed my arm hard and pulled me back.

"Don't push me away, Max," he said, his eyes flashing. "You can't go through this on your own. Let me help you."

I just shook my head. I couldn't force this problem on him. He shook me, hard.

"Why do you shut everyone out?" he snapped. "You're not Superman, Maximum. You can't do everything on your own." I knew he was pissed when he called me by my full name.

"But I have to be the strong one," I whispered. "If I'm not, then who will?"

"Let me."

"You want to be the strong one?" I was so mad. "Where were you when we were in Germany, huh? I e-mailed you. Where were you when Nudge as kidnapped by scientists? Where were you when Angel had to go to the hospital last year? Where were you?"

"Max-"

I sighed and rubbed my head. "Look, I don't want to fight with you. I just came here so that I could see my family again before I die." My voice cracked at the last word."

Fang nodded. "So, do they know?"

I shook my head. "No."

Running his fingers through his hair, Fang sighed. "Max, we've gotta tell them."

"I know." I sat down on the bed. "But I just don't know how. I can't exactly go up to them and say, 'Hey guys. Guess what? I'm gonna die in five days.' now can I?"

"I guess not." Fang sat down next to me. "But one way or another, you've got to tell them."

"I know." I was starting to get sleepy and Fang realized this. So, he carefully maneuvered me so that I was laying against the headboard. "Are you trying to take care of me?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied, tucking the covers firmly around me. "You have a problem with that?" His raised eyebrow told me not to mess with him.

I shook my head. "Nope. I'm tired enough right now to let you."

Fang chuckled. He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Goodnight Max."

"Night Fang."

He smiled at me and quietly left my room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Explanations

Chapter 3: Explanations and Hope

I woke up the next morning to the smell of someone cooking. Now, in my house this would be bad. None of us girls can cook. However, this was the boy's house and Iggy, for some reason, could cook better then anyone else I know.

After getting dressed, I managed to get downstairs where everyone was sitting around a large dining room table, eating. I smiled at them and sat down and the only available chair. I helped myself to some of the scrambled eggs and avoided Fang's gaze.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Nudge asked. "Are we going to go shopping? I saw some really cool stores a few blocks from here. Angel, I think you might like some of…mph!" Iggy plastered his hand over Nudge's mouth, shutting her up.

"Actually, I think Max has something she wants to tell you," Fang said, glancing at me. I glared at him and then glanced at the four curious faces that were now looking at me.

"I guess you're all wondering why we're reuniting after three years of separation," I said. The flock, it feels sooo good to say that again. The flock all nodded. I stole a glance at Fang for support and he nodded to me. "Well, a few days ago, back in Arizona, my expiration date showed up. It says that I'll die in four days." I had never been one for fancy speeches. I looked at each face and they all had the same look: shock. Then Angel burst into tears. I got up and went to hug her.

"It's okay, sweetie," I whispered, running my fingers through her curls. "It's okay."

"No it's not!" Gazzy cried. "Y-you just got here and now-" He went quiet. I could tell that he was trying to be strong, but he was still really young. Only twelve. I held out my other arm and he moved into my embrace.

"We've got to accept this," I said, holding both of them tight. I looked behind them to see Nudge quietly sobbing and Iggy was grabbing the table so hard that I thought it would snap. Fang, the emotional person that he is, didn't say anything. But, then again, he had already known. "It's not like there's anything we can do about it."

"Maybe there is."

We all turned to look at Fang. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, that the whitecoats planted these expiration dates in us. Maybe they can somehow reverse them."

"But how would we find the School?" I demanded. "Didn't it disband?"

"Well, yeah."

"If we can't find the whitecoats, then how can we get rid of my expiration date?" Why didn't he just realize there was no hope.

"Do you honestly think that they don't keep in touch with each other?" Fang asked. "We can find Jeb. Jeb can tell us where the whitecoats who implanted these expiration dates are and then we can go get them." When the flock just stared at him, he stood angrily. "Well we can't just sit here, damn it! We have to try to beat this thing."

"Yeah!" Gazzy said, pulling out of my reach. "We have to al least try."

"But how are we going to find Jeb?" I asked. I refused to get my hopes up.

Fang smiled. "A new skill of mine. If I concentrate hard enough on a person that I've met, then I can find them." He shrugged. "I've never really had a chance to use it until now."

I looked around at my family, at their hopeful expressions, and almost against my will, I felt hope rise in my chest.

"Do you really think this will work?" I asked Fang. He turned to me with a confident smile.

"I really think it will," he replied.

I smiled back and looked at the younger kids. "Then let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Jeb

Chapter 4: Jeb

Jeb was in Virginia. Apparently, he was living in Anne's old house, so it didn't take all that long to find him. At 1:00 in the afternoon, we were standing on the front porch, loudly knocking on the door. Inside, we could hear someone moving around. Soon, Jeb was standing at the door, staring at us.

"Maximum," Jeb said his eyes wide. "What are you doing here?"

"Cut the crap Jeb," I snapped, pushing past him into the house. The flock followed me in. I could tell that all of them were glaring at Jeb. "We need your help."

He glanced nervously around at the flock. "What do you need?"

"We need you to tell us where we can find the scientist at the School who implanted the expiration dates on us. And we need to know now."

"I don't know where they are," Jeb said. I could tell he was lying.

I shoved him hard. "Don't tell me that. I know you know where they are. So tell me before I break your neck."

"Maximum, don't act this way. It's childish and immature. I thought I taught you better." Jeb was watching her disapprovingly.

I laughed. It was a bitter sound. "Jeb, I've tried to forget just about everything that you've taught me."

"All I've ever done was to mold you to save the world. And you've done that now. I'm proud of you."

Fang, who had been silent throughout this entire exchange, now walked up to Jeb and shoved him into a wall. "If you're so proud of her, then why don't you help us save her life?"

"Because it's not meant to be. She's supposed to die."

"Not meant to be?" Was this guy insane? "If you're so worried about what's meant to be, then why the hell did you create kids with wings?"

Jeb's face turned red at that. "It was necessary."

"Necessary my ass," I said. "One way or another, you did something that wasn't 'meant to be' as you put it. So stop worrying about it and tell us what we need to know!"

"Maximum…" his voice trailed off as footsteps sounded on the stairs. Everyone looked up to see three children running down the stairs. They paused when they saw us.

Upon close examination, we saw that the kids had cat eyes and pointed ears. They were obviously part feline just as we were bird. I laughed.

"Playing Daddy again Jeb?"

Jeb turned red.

"Who are you?" The speaker was a tall boy who looked about ten years old with black hair and green eyes. He was frowning at me.

"Maximum Ride," I replied. "Who are you?"

"Jag," he replied. "Why do you smell funny?"

"Part bird," I replied with a shrug and then turned back to Jeb. "What's their great destiny?" I asked. "No, I don't want to know." I turned to the three kids who were watching me. "Don't trust him. He'll betray you in the end." Then, without any warning, I turned around and slammed Jeb against the wall and kept him there. "Jeb, my time is running out. You need to tell me where the scientist is right now and you need to tell me now or I swear I will kill you right here, right now."

Jeb hesitated and then nodded. I let him go and he went over to a desk in the hallway. Quickly, he wrote down an address and handed it to Fang.

"If this doesn't work," I heard Fang whisper. "If she dies, then I will track you down and kill you." Jeb nodded.

"Let's go," I said and walked out of the door. We were getting ready for take off when I suddenly turned to look at Jag. "Jag, I know Jeb saved you from whoever made you, but don't trust him. He'll only betray you and your family. If you have any sense, then you'll take your family and run." Bending down, I whispered my old address into his ear. "That's where you can find a safe house. Remember it if you ever need to use it." Without another word to anyone, I snapped open my wings and jumped into the air with my flock close behind me.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Decent Whitecoat

Chapter 5: A Decent Whitecoat

It took us another day to get to Mississippi, where the whitecoat was now living. He was in a nice suburban home in a quiet neighborhood. I almost laughed when I saw the white fence around his yard. Motioning silently to the flock, we jumped the fence and knocked loudly on the door. It was answered by a teenage girl who looked around sixteen-years-old. She gave a flirtatious smile when she saw Fang. I rolled my eyes.

"What can I do for you?" she asked Fang, who looked over at me.

"Hi, we're looking for…" I paused to look down at the paper Jeb had given me. "Dr. John Kaine. Is he here?"

"He's my father," the girl replied, reluctantly looking at me. "I'm Melissa Kaine. Dad's in his office right now. He doesn't like to be disturbed."

"I think you should go get him," Angel suggested sweetly.

"But I think I should go get him," Melissa said. Then she turned and walked down the hall.

I turned to Angel and raised on of my eyebrows at her. She just shrugged. I could see Iggy and Gazzy laughing and Nudge was grinning. Fang looked relieved that Melissa was gone. A moment later, she returned, followed by a tall man with short brown hair.

"How can I help you?" Dr. Kaine asked when he saw us.

"We need to speak with you. Privately." I looked meaningfully at Melissa, who was standing behind him.

"Melissa, why don't you go help your mother in the attic." The girl pouted, but went up the stairs.

"Now, if you will come with me…" Dr. Kaine led us into his living room. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Well, you can start with telling us how to remove expiration dates," I said in a false, cheerful voice.

The man blinked once. "W-what did you say?"

"Oh, you heard me. Expiration dates. You're the one who programmed them, right?"

"How do you know this?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Is that something you really need to know?"

"I think it's rather important," Dr. Kaine said. "And until you tell me why you want to know this, I'm afraid I can't help you."

Sighing, I turned my back to him and raised my long hair away from my neck, revealing the date tattooed across my neck. I heard him gasp softly and let the hair fall back into place and turned to face him. "Now will you tell us?"

"Which hybrid are you?" he asked, now addressing the entire flock. "I remember we made feline hybrids, lupine hybrids, avian hybrids-"

"Avian hybrids," Iggy replied. "Now can you tell us how to fix Max? As you can tell, we're running out of time."

Dr. Kaine frowned. "Do you mean Maximum?"

I crossed my arms. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing, it's just what you were programmed to do." The man shook his head in amazement. "A single person, created to save the world."

I rolled my eyes. This was getting so old.

Suddenly, the room filled with the Gasman's signature sent. Dr. Kaine choked and looked around for the source. The flock just held their breath and glared at Gazzy. I guess this was his way of trying to lighten the mood. The boy just smiled innocently and shrugged.

Angel leaned forward from her seat and looked the doctor in his eyes. "Tell us how to get rid of the expiration date."

Dr. Kaine's eyes glazed over. "You'd need surgery. When you reach your expiration date, poison floods into your body, killing you. I need to remove the sac of poisonous fluid from your stomach."

"When can you do the surgery?" Nudge asked.

"I'd need to get you into a hospital OR," Dr. Kaine said. His eyes returned to normal. "It should only take a day to reserve one and then two hours to remove the sac."

"So you'll help us?" I asked.

"I helped do this to you," Dr. Kaine replied. "The lease I can do is help you fix it."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Secrets

Chapter 6: Secrets

I could hardly believe it. A good whitecoat. Was it Armageddon? I didn't think any of them existed after we had been betrayed by Jeb.

"Now, until we can get you that surgery, I want you guys to stay here with my family," Dr. Kaine continued. "We have some extra rooms that you can stay in."

I turned to look at my flock. "What do you guys think?"

"It would be sooo nice to stay here," Nudge said. "Did you see how big this house is? I mean, it's still small compared to the guy's house, but compared to our old house, wow, it's really big!" Iggy slapped his hand over Nudge's mouth, momentarily shutting her up.

"I think it would be fun!" Angel replied.

"Yeah!" Gazzy said.

I shrugged. "Fine. We'll stay here until the surgery. Then we'll leave. Sound good?" The younger flock members cheered and Fang and Iggy nodded.

"Good." Dr. Kaine looked relieved that we weren't leaving. "I never really got to know any of the experiments."

I frowned, wondering why he was looking relieved. "Yeah, well we don't exactly like telling people about us, so don't think you'll get to know us too well."

"That's just fine." The man stood up. "Now, let me show you where you'll be sleeping."

There were only three extra rooms in the Kaine's house so we each had to pair up. Angel and Nudge shared a room, as did Iggy and Gazzy. That left me rooming with Fang. I sat down on one of the two twin beds.

"What do you think of Dr. Kaine?" I asked Fang as he sat down next to me.

"I think he's hiding something," Fang replied. "But I do think that he can get rid of your expiration date."

"So we're staying."

"Just until you're expiration date is gone, Max. That's three days tops." Fang put his arm around my shoulders. "Everything's going to be okay."

"I know," I sighed. "I just don't like that Dr. Kaine is hiding something from us. What if he's still working for the School?"

"Then we'll deal with all of that when it happens. The most important thing right now is for you to get better."

A knock sounded at our door. Melissa poked her head in and scowled when she saw is sitting on the bed together.

"Dad told me to tell you that dinner's going to be ready in ten minutes," she told Fang in a flirtatious voice.

"Okay," Fang replied in a bored voice. "We'll be down there soon."

The girl nodded, disappointed, and left the room to go tell the rest of the flock. I chuckled as I watched her go.

"What's so funny?" Fang asked.

"She has a crush on you," I replied. "And she's trying to get you to notice her. I think she's disappointed that you aren't."

"There's only one girl that I would ever think about in that way Max," Fang said, looking into my eyes.

"Do I know her?" I asked, my breath coming out shakily.

Fang gently pulled my face closer to his. "Yeah. You do." Then his lips were on mine.

I lost all ability to think when his lips touched mine. I felt his hands on my back, tracing the length of my wings. I gently pressed my lips even more firmly against his before pulling back. I saw Fang tense, like he was getting ready for me to run away again.

"Fang-"

"Don't run away again," Fang pleaded. My eyes widened with shock. Fang was _pleading_ with me.

"I'm not going to," I replied. I pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "I'm tired of running, Fang. For now, I just want to be happy."

"And this makes you happy?" he asked, needing the reassurance.

"It makes me very happy," I replied before kissing him again.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I know that we all hate these notes

**A/N: I know that we all hate these notes. But, this is just to say that I'm sorry for making you wait for this chapter so long. I've been slammed with school and work. Thanks for understanding. Here's Chapter 7 of Expiration Date.**

**-Griff**

Chapter 7: Dinner with the Kaines

After me and Fang finished kissing, we went downstairs. It only took us a minute to find the dinning room. All we had to do was follow our noses. When we entered that room, we found the flock and the Kaines sitting around a huge table. We had decided to use our names from when we had stayed at Anne's house.

Once me and Fang sat down Dr. Kaine's wife, who insisted that we call her Laura, said grace and then we all started eating. Surprisingly, Laura had made enough food to satisfy six hungry mutants and three humans.

"So Nick, where are you guys from?" Melissa asked Fang. She had been watching him with adoring eyes ever since we had sat down. I clenched my hands beneath the table.

"We move around a lot," Fang replied, shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth.

"How long are you staying here?" she asked. This girl seemed determined to get Fang into a conversation. Ha. Good Luck with that.

"Hopefully not too long," he said.

"This food is like, really good," Nudge said. I groaned inwardly. Here we go. "I mean, this is much better then Max's cooking. She can't cook at all. Well, other then cookies. Those she can make. The only one of us who really can cook is Iggy. He's amazing."

"The blind guy cooks?" Melissa asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Melissa!" Dr. Kaine exclaimed in a disbelieving tone. "Where are your manners?"

"Well he is blind," the girl pointed out.

"Yes I cook," Iggy said, trying to avoid an argument. "Better then most people, in fact."

"Amazing!" Laura said. "Well then Jeff, you're going to have to give me some tips. I'm afraid that my cooking's just average."

"It's great Laura," I said truthfully. It was pretty darn good. But, then again, I had been eating my own cooking for the past four years and just about anything would taste great compared to that.

"Thank you Max," Laura beamed at me. She reminded me of Dr. Martinez, or Mom. Except, mom wasn't married to a whitecoat. Yeah, except for that.

For the next few minutes, everyone was silent. And it wasn't one of those comfortable silences. It was one that needed to be filled. Suddenly, the Gasman let out his namesake sent. Everyone at the table gagged.

"Ga-Zypher!" I managed to choke out. God, that smell was just as bad as I remembered.

"Sorry," he said, and then continued eating as if nothing had happened.

I glanced over at Fang, who had an amused look on his face. Then I remembered what had happened between us just a little while ago and blushed.

_**What happened, Max?**_ Angel's voice floated through my head. _**Are you two fighting again?**_

_No Angel, _I replied in my mind. _We're not fighting. In fact it's pretty much the opposite._

Angel squealed as she figured out what I meant. I winced. Now she would tell the rest of the flock.

_**I'm glad you guys aren't fighting anymore. It's much better this way. Everything's going to work out. You'll see.**_

_If you say so, Ang._

I glanced over at Fang, who was pretending to listen to something Melissa was saying. Only I could see the faint tightness in his lips that signaled that he was getting annoyed. I laughed to myself. Fang glanced over and gave a small smile.

Ten minutes later, the table was cleaned off. We had eaten everything, much to Laura's surprise. After we had all finished with the dishes, yes we had done the dishes, we gathered outside of the rooms to say goodnight. We did out little nighttime stack and then all went into our separate rooms.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Nightmares

Chapter 8: Nightmares

I closed the door behind me as me and Fang entered our room. You would think that it would be very awkward spending the night in the same room with someone that you had kissed only hours before, but it wasn't. But, then again, you didn't normally go around kissing your best friend with whom you had spent countless nights with when you were younger. Fang kissed me quickly and gently before we went to sleep.

_I was back at the sewers in New York, the ones leading to the Itex headquarters. For some reason I was running faster then I had ever done before, searching for the light at the end of the dark, damp tunnel. There! I was almost at it when I felt a huge hand grip my shoulder. I spun around to see an Eraser standing there, drool coming out of his grotesque and misshapen mouth._

"_Maximum," he hissed. "It's time for you to come back." For some reason, I knew that he meant come back to the School._

"_Never," I spat._

_The Eraser grinned. "Then I'll have to take you by force." He grabbed my arm and yanked hard. Crap that hurt. I smashed my fist into his face and he hardly winced. I did that repeatedly with the same effect. He just grinned wider and held my arm harder. Then I remembered the dirty tricks that Jeb had taught me and the other girls back when we were just learning to fight. I grinned back at the Eraser, confusing him for a moment, before kicking him with all my strength in that special place that guys have. He yelped in pain and dropped me hard on the ground. I laughed and then launched a roundhouse kick to his head._

_Because he was down for the count, I started running again. I was just stepping into the light when he grabbed me again._

"_You've been a very bad birdie," he snarled, all humor gone from his eyes. Though I hate to admit it, I was scared. "And bad birdies must be punished."_

_I tried in vain to get out of his grip as his hands moved down my back. I felt a searing pain in my back where my wings were and screamed. Moments later I saw them, torn and bloody on the floor beside me._

Gasping, I sat upright in the bed. Sweat pored down my face. I felt franticly across my back, making sure that my wings were still there. I sighed in relief as I felt the softness of my feathers.

"Max?" Fang's sleepy voice asked from his bed. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," I replied, gently lying back down.

"Don't give me that crap," Fang said. He was sounding more awake now. I heard his covers rustle as he pushed them back. Then he was standing by my bed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied stubbornly. I turned away from him. "Goodnight."

I felt Fang grip my shoulders in the same way that Eraser in my dream had and turn me over. I shivered involuntarily at the memory of the dream.

"Max, tell me the truth," Fang commanded, catching my gaze. I sighed and sat up, scooting over so that he could sit next to me.

"It was just a nightmare," I said. "Stupid, really, but it just scared me."

"What happened?" Fang asked, sitting next to me. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"I was back in the sewer in New York. I was running from something and got caught by an Eraser. We fought and he ended up ripping out my wings." I shuddered.

"It's okay," Fang said, stroking my hair. "You can be scared."

"I know," I replied. I could feel myself getting more and more tired. "It's just that I feel like I need to be strong. For the flock."

"Let me be the strong one sometimes," Fang said, kissing the top of my head. His voice was getting thicker and I could tell that he was about to drift off.

I smiled. "I will," I answered. But, I wasn't sure if he heard me or not. He was already sleeping, still holding me close. I let my eyes close and sleep, this time not dreaming at all.


End file.
